Sites and Systems of the South West c. 600 BCE to Present: the Hohokam and the Puebloans

Much of what we know of Southwest Indigenous cultures was mistakenly informed by the assumption that the Anasazi were the ancestors of the Navajo. Kiva’s, pueblos and the reconstruction of heritage sites such as Mesa Verde have made their way into architectural history textbooks in error, based upon what is now known to be misinterpreted culture, language and ultimately architecture. This module will provide updated scholarship, images and architectural drawings to not only correct the often repeated mistakes regarding the function, meaning and structure of architectures like towers and kivas, but also demonstrate how its current fragile state is in danger, from the Salt River Basin, and Bears Ears to Chaco Canyon. What is more, these people and many of their architectural and cultural practices, although transformed, are still here. Each lecture in this series is based upon set of regional settlements, cultural and cosmological practices.